Nitin Gadkari, the minister for road transport and highways, said he could replace ambulance sirens with a song he heard on the radio, The Hindu reports.

“I am thinking of using that tune for ambulances so that people feel pleasant,” he said. He said loud ambulance sirens are “so irritating” and “harms the ears”.

He also said he was “soon planning to make a law that the horns of all vehicles should be in Indian musical instruments so that it is pleasant to hear”.

Mr Gadkari said the flute, tabla, violin, mouth organ and harmonium were all suitable instruments for car “horns”.